Killing Eve: Is the murderous Villanelle really a sociopath?

Catherine Palmer

Photo Credit: BBC America

Killing Eve‘s main antagonist Villanelle, an assassin with a flair for the dramatic, enjoys murdering people, but she’s also more complex than I first thought.

When I binged Killing Eve last month, I went into it assuming Villanelle (Jodie Comer), aka Oksana, was a sociopath, and for the first episodes, I was convinced she was. For example, she enjoys her job as an assassin and not because she feels any vindication in killing specific people.

Villanelle doesn’t try to convince herself that her targets deserved to die because she doesn’t need to. She genuinely does not feel remorse for killing them. She takes pleasure in the act, or perhaps in her case the art, of murder itself.

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Additionally, Villanelle doesn’t only kill people she’s assigned to kill. For example, she could’ve easily given Bill (David Haig) the slip while he was pursuing her since she was aware of his presence the entire time. But she didn’t because she wanted to kill him. It wasn’t a desperate action. It was a premeditated one. She wanted him to know that he had underestimated her.

Further evidence of Villanelle’s sociopathic tendencies can be seen in her encounters with Nadia (Olivia Ross). For one, Villanelle had already betrayed her to get out of prison. Then, after promising Nadia they could have a new life together, Villanelle ran her over without hesitation, which was jarring to watch, despite already knowing what Villanelle was capable of.

Villanelle showed an even deeper level of depravity when she successfully and quite brutally killed Nadia in prison. Of course, her elation mostly stemmed from her belief that being sent to solitary would be her ticket out of jail, as Konstantin (Kim Bodnia) had promised it would be. Nevertheless, Villanelle smiling gleefully while covered in Nadia’s blood (as can be seen above) is hardly an argument against her being a sociopath.

I’m not denying that Villanelle has severe mental health issues throughout Killing Eve. In fact, she meets all the criteria for anti-social personality disorder, which is the medical diagnosis that most closely aligns with sociopathy, per The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition (DSM-5).

Such criteria include “manipulativeness,” “impulsivity,” “callousness,” “deceitfulness,” “ego-centrism,” a lack of “empathy” or “remorse,” an “incapacity for mutually intimate relationships,” and signs of such characteristics during childhood.

So maybe Villanelle is a sociopath. But maybe she’s also not the heartless monster that we tend to assume sociopaths are, at least not entirely.

Why doesn’t Villanelle kill kids?

All of Villanelle’s targets are adults, but she’s not exactly one to always follow orders. She has two major opportunities to kill children at the beginning and at end of Killing Eve. But she doesn’t take them.

The argument could be made that Villanelle didn’t kill the boy (Nicoló Ambrosio) in Italy because she didn’t want to draw extra attention to the hit, but she killed his grandfather (Remo Girone) with a hairpin specifically to draw extra attention to it.

The argument could also be made that she knew leaving the boy to find his grandfather murdered and realize he had inadvertently helped would be severely traumatizing. It certainly demonstrates an extreme lack of empathy, but it also suggests early on that murdering a child may be a line she refuses to cross.

Regarding Irina (Yuli Lagodinsky), Konstantin’s daughter, she and Villanelle have quite an interesting, even amusing, relationship. Initially, Villanelle kept Irina and her mother alive for Konstantin’s sake. I don’t believe Villanelle cared about him, per se, but I do think she respected him. That respect is also why she gave him the opportunity to kill himself, even though it was less convenient for her.

After Konstantin escapes, Villanelle kept Irina alive in order to incentivize Konstantin to put himself back in her crosshairs. But she also formed a strange connection with Irina. Of course, charisma is a well-known sociopathic trait, and Villanelle skillfully used it as an assassin multiple times in order to catch people off-guard. But around Irina, she’s actually not charismatic, she’s honest.

Villanelle needed to keep Irina alive, pragmatically, but only barely. It hardly mattered what condition Konstantin found Irina in as long as he found her. Villanelle did use Irina to get to Anna (Susan Lynch), but Anna surely would’ve let a wounded child into her apartment as well, perhaps even more readily.

Obviously, Villanelle didn’t treat Irina well, but she could’ve treated her much worse. Violence would’ve been a simpler option. It’s what Villanelle is used to, and she probably could’ve broken Irina. Villanelle threatened Irina with a gun multiple times, but she never used it. She went a different route.

Additionally, during the standoff, she could’ve killed Irina and then Konstantin. Eve was pointing a gun at her, but I don’t think that’s why Villanelle chose not to kill Irina. After all, Eve basically admitted that she didn’t know how to use a gun.

For that matter, Villanelle could’ve easily killed all three of them. But she spared Eve, too.

Were Villanelle’s feelings for Anna and Eve genuine?

As part of the diagnostic criteria for anti-social personality disorder under DSM-5, a person must exhibit either 1) a lack of remorse/empathy or 2) an inability to form deep attachments due to the use of “exploitation [as] a primary means of relating to others.”

A person does not need to meet both conditions. Theoretically, then, Villanelle could be a sociopath capable of caring about certain people. As exhibited by her relationship with Nadia, Villanelle is plenty exploitative. With Anna and Eve, though, she’s different.

By Anna’s account during her meeting with Eve, Villanelle had presumed Anna to have feelings that were non-existent and killed Anna’s husband out of unwarranted, delusional jealousy. As it turned out, Anna had been in a physical relationship with her young student, and she had if inadvertently, led Villanelle to believe they could be together with her husband out of the picture.

Villanelle certainly had mental health issues but that does not mean that she wasn’t genuinely in love with Anna. Anna rejected Villanelle after the murder, and Villanelle bitterly resented her. Yet, even years later when Villanelle finally got the chance to confront Anna, she seemingly could not bring herself to kill Anna.

Perhaps if Anna hadn’t killed herself, Villanelle would have eventually pulled the trigger, but I’m not so sure. She was clearly emotionally affected when she looked at her body.

Turning to Eve, Villanelle was obviously attracted to her, even obsessed with her. However, the most significant sign that she actually cared about Eve was her horrified and almost heartbreaking reaction to Eve stabbing her.

She could’ve been trying to manipulate Eve, and to an extent, maybe she was. Her words did make Eve feel remorseful and obligated to save her life. But she still ran away before Eve could help her.

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The only other logical explanation for Villanelle opening up to Eve in that moment is that Villanelle was being honest and vulnerable. She was surprised and hurt that Eve had betrayed her because she genuinely “really liked” Eve and had wanted Eve to like her. Such feelings would also explain the anger that drove her to run away. She felt humiliated.

It’ll be interesting to see how they interact in season two. If Anna is any indication, Villanelle can hold a grudge. However, as with Anna, Villanelle may ultimately continue to care about Eve, despite her best efforts to prove otherwise.

Did you like the first season of Killing Eve? Be sure to comment below!

Catherine Palmer

Catherine Palmer is a Southside Serpent and former editor and columnist for The Johns Hopkins News-Letter. She wishes she could have majored in TV Studies but settled for a creative writing degree.